The Man From the Other Side (Orlev)
(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)
The cover text reads, "He found himself in a world he never knew existed," and the illustration is a confrontation of three people in a water-filled tunnel. (It's a sewer.)
This is not a book that I might normally have picked up, but I'm glad I did. And I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. (My TBR piles are terrible.)
This a the third book I picked up from a high school library shelf that was "Books for Free, Please Take." It was okay with the librarian if I took a couple. The Man From the Other Side was mixed in with fantasy and science-fiction books, so you can imagine that the cover and the blurb put a different kind of story in my mind.
Still, it was a fascinating read.
Briefly, the author met a man named Marek, who told him the story of when he was a child in Poland. The Germans had already invaded and had set up a Jewish ghetto. Marek would go with his step-father Antony through a hatch in the basement, through the sewers, to bring aid to the Jews. The image on the cover takes place early in the book when they are confronted, and their secret will be revealed. Marek learns right then how committed to the cause Antony is, even if he's doing it for money.
The Poles don't like the Germans, but can't resist them. Many don't like the Jews either, but they wouldn't wish death upon them. Some risk everything to hide some in the house, but they must be extremely careful not to be found out. The neighbors might turn them in.
Marek is out one morning and he runs into two older boys. They convince him to go along with them as they shake down a Jew for his money. Many of the Jews walking around Warshaw carry a lot of money because they either have to pay for protection, escape, or just basic necessities. Marek feels guilty about this, and tells his mother who takes his share of the money.
Marek later befriends a man he sees at Church who had been hiding there until the priest took ill and his sister came to stay. Marek decides to help Pan Jozek (Pan being like "Mister" or "Don", I'm guessing) and wants to give him the money. A friendship starts to form as he tries to hide him, and keep this from Antony.
When there is an uprising in the ghetto and the Jews are fighting back, Pan Jozek wants to find his way back into the ghetto, and Marek agrees to take him there. Marek experiences the war up close after that.
The author stated that Marek didn't want the story published, because it would get back to Poland (even though it was originally written in Yiddish) and embarass his family. The two agreed that he could publish the story after his death. Fate stepped in, and Marek died two months later in a plane crash on the way to Warsaw.
It was weird having an actual book in my hands again. I had a problem reading at bedtime, as I would conk out after 2 pages. (The darkened pages probably played a roll on eyestrain.) I had to find time during the day to knock off 10 pages or so.
Based on a true story, 184 pages.
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